Sectional door



A. J. wUTZKE SECTIONAL DOOR Aug. '12, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1967 INVENTOR. A1. BEET J WUTZ/(E Aug. 12, 1969 A. J. WUTZKE SECTIONAL DOOR 3 Sheets Sheet 3 Filed July 5, 1967 AGE/V r 3,460,290 SECTIONAL DOOR Albert J. Wutzke, 2655 Compton St., Corona, Calif. 91720 Filed July 3, 1967, Ser. No. 650,748 Int. Cl. E05d 13/02 US. Cl. 49-411 11 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garage door with three sliding sections which roll on parallel tracks running between the door jambs along the bottom of the doorway opening. The sections are movable between positions of extension, in which they block the doorway opening, and of retraction, in which part of the opening is uncovered to permit entry and exit to and from the garage. All but the outer two edges of the door sections overlap when the latter are extended and have interlocking means which engage to prevent separation of the sections when the door is fastened at its ends in the doorway opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to doors of the type having separately movable sections and more particularly to improved doors of this type with three or more sections designed primarily for use in wide doorway of the kind found in twoor three-car home garages.

The garages of many modern-day homes are of twoor three-car size with wide heavy doors mounted to swing between open and closed positions. The open position of such a door is typically an overhead, substantially horizontal one, and it generally takes a fair amount of strength and effort to move it into this position from a closed one. It is thus no easy task to open the family garage door in many, if not most, cases, even for a man, much less a woman or a child. It is even diflicult, for that matter, to close such door in a good many cases.

A particularly common type of garage door in present day usage is the overhead swinging variety in which the door is connected to a door-frame through powerful counterbalance springs mounted either side of the latter. As will be understood by those familiar with such doors, the aforesaid springs serve to counterbalance the rather substantial garage door weight in such fashion as to permit the door to be manually opened and closed, although not without a certain amount of effort, as indicated above. Briefly, this is made possible by installing the counterbalance springs on the door in such a way that they come under high-stretching tension when the door is closed so that they help pull the latter to its open position after it has been moved partly in the right direction by an upward and outward pull from a point near the bottom of its outer side.

Probably because of their recurrent subjection to stretching and relaxation in use, and their retention for periods of varying duration under extreme stretching tension (when garage doors are closed), the aforesaid springs sometime reach the breaking point. This invariably happens to a spring when it is under relatively high tension, with the result that metal fragments are released therefrom with great force inside the garage (since the spring is conventionally mounted so as to be enclosed within the 3,460,290 Patented Aug. 12, 1969 garage when ,the door is shut, at which point it is subjected to its greatest pulling force). The released fragments fly through the air at high speeds, thereby posing a dangerous threat to anyone or anything within their scatter range.

Such fragments have been known to strike automobiles with suflicient force to break windows, dent fenders or do other damage of a serious nature; strike wooden garage beams with suflicient force to gouge deep holes therein; strike and break garage windows; and inflict other property damage of a like character. If the flying fragments can do this kind of damage to wood, metal, and automobile safety glass, they are sufficiently dangerous to pose a serious threat to the safety, and even the life, of a person unfortunate enough to be trapped inside a garage with a bursting counterbalancing spring. This danger is particularly acute where one has a home with a connecting garage and habitually parks his car in the garage and closed the door from the inside before proceeding into his house. Such an individual is, of course, fully exposed to the ranger of spring breakage fragments from the time he closes the door until such time as he enters his house.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The sectional door of this invention is made up of at least three sections adapted to roll on closely parallel tracks and sized to extend across a wide doorway opening in slightly offset planes with the near edges of adjacent ones overlapping. The sections are mounted on separate tracks spaced just far enough apart to permit those on neighboring tracks to come abreast, or, at least, pretty nearly abreast, without touching.

The door sections are installed for use in a specially designed door-frame adapted to receive and hold them in properly spaced relationship throughout their door opening and closing movements. The sectional door can be locked or fastened at its lateral edges in an extended position to enclose the doorway opening. To ensure against displacement of the section, or sections, intermediate its two end sections when so extended and looked, all overlapping edges of the individual door sections have associated interlocking means which are engageable to prevent lateral separation of the sections and loss of effectiveness of the door.

In preferred forms, the sectional door of this invention can be provided with weatherstrippingto keep water out of the garage in rainy weather and the track bed carrying the door sections can be provided with drain holes for the escape of water which would otherwise leak under the door into the garage in such weather. These measures are remarkably effective in waterproofing a doorway opening during periods of inclement weather. By contrast, conventional garage door, as exemplified by the overhead swinging door described above, do not lend themselves to particularly effective Weatherstripping treatment, with the result that much water leaks through the spaces between their edges and the doorframe in which they are mounted during rainy weather, particularly where wind is mixed with the rain.

The separate sections of my new sectional door are preferably of lightweight construction, and this, coupled with their ready rollability from one position to another in use, makes opening and closing of the door an easy and effortless matter by comparison with the straining and lifting technique for opening and closing a conventype. Furthermore, because of its lightness of weight, at

least in preferred forms, and manner of installation and operation, my new door is substantially free of sagging and warping. By contrast, the heavy and cumbersome spring-hung doors are characterized by pronounced sagging and warping tendencies. In this connection, a preferred material for use in my door sections is particle board, because it does not warp easily. The occurrence of such warpage is not, however, a serious cause for alarm, since my sectional door readily lends itself to the installation of small thrust rollers in positions adapted to hold warped panels the necessary distance apart during operation of the door to prevent its malfunctioning.

It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide a door particularly suitable for use as a garage door which can be easily opened by anyone with a minimum of, and no stooping or lifting, effort.

It is another object of the invention to provide such a door which functions without the need of counterbalancing springs, hence free of the broken spring dangers inherent in the use of spring-hung garage doors.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide such a door and cooperating doorframe means substantially more weather-resistant than the great majority of garage doors in present day usage.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a garage door free of the sagging tendencies inherent in, and less susceptible to warping than, overhead-opening garage doors.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent in the light of the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of an exemplary garage fitted with a preferred embodiment of the sectional door of this invention having three sections, the door being shown in its closed position.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective of a door similar to that shown in FIGURE 1 and part of a doorway frame in which it is mounted, having its end sections offset from its middle section in reverse directions from their counterparts of the FIGURE 1 door, and being shown in partially closed position.

FIGURE 3 is an interrupted longitudinal section of the FIGURE 1 doorframe and door, including the rough doorway opening studs to which the latter is attached, taken along the line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, interrupted cross-sectional view of the door and doorframe taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 2, showing additionally, a portion of a rough doorway opening to which the latter is secured, certain of the background details being omitted for purposes of greater clarity of illustration.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective of a roller assembly of the type employed for rolling support of the door sections illustrated in FIGURES 1 through 4.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged version of the cross-section ofthe top member of the doorframe shown in FIG- URE 4.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged version of either of the sectional views of the doorframe jambs shown in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged version of the sectional view of the doorframe sill shown in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary perspective of the doorframe sill, showing water drainage openings therein.

' FIGURE 10 is an enlarged version of one of the sectional views of the top rails of the door sections shown in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged version of one of the crosssectional views of the bottom rails of the door sections shown in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 12 is an. en a g d version of o e of the se tional views of the outer stiles of the two end door sections of'FIGURE 3, the present view showing the stile turned through an angle of from its FIGURE 3 orientation for drawing layout purposes.

FIGURE 13 is an enlarged version of one of two sectional views of engaged door stiles shown in FIGURE 3, the present view showing door stiles rotated through 90 angles from their FIGURE 3 positions for drawing layout purposes.

DESCRIPTION THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Considering now the drawings in greater detail, there is shown generally at D a sectional door in accordance with this invention, consisting of three movable sections, 10, 12 and 14 respectively. These sections are mounted in a frame F comprising four sections of extruded aluminum forming side jambs 18, a head jamb 16 and a sill 20, the side and head jambs being fastened around the rough doorway opening of a garage G in FIGURE 1. The door sections are movable laterally within frame F between a closed position in which they fill the garage doorway opening, with edges of adjacent ones overlapping, as shown in FIGURE 1, and various open positions, differing in degree and portion of exposed doorway opening resulting therefrom, one such position being depicted in FIGURE 2, where the three sections are disposed in the right hand portion of the doorway opening, as viewed, with one (section 12) partially sandwiched between the other two. To make such movement of the door sections possible, they are each provided with rollers 32, mounted on their lower edges, which ride on tracks 20c upstanding from sill 20, and fit, at their upper edges, into guide channels 16d in the head jamb of frame F. The guide channels serve to keep the door sections in their proper relative positions during their door-opening and closing movements.

While all views of the drawings are treated as illustrative of a single door, frame, etc., and like parts are designated by like reference characters, throughout this description, a close scrutiny of FIGURES I through 4 will reveal that the two end sections of the illustrated door of FIGURES 1 and 3 are offset from the center section in opposite directions from the directions of offset of their counterpart sections of the door illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4. The reason for these differences in door-section arrangement is merely to emphasize the illustrated versatility of the door. The use of like reference characters for like parts throughout all figures of the drawings was adapted for the obvious purpose of avoiding confusion (since the component parts of all illustrated doors are similar and less confusion seems likely to result if they are treated with one set of reference characters, rather than two such sets).

Sections 10 and 14 of door D are so designed and installed in the doorway opening of a garage as to contact the left and right jambs of the opening, respectively, when the door is in its closed position as seen in FIGURE 1. Thus, these two sections will hereinafter be referred to as the end sections, and the remaining section 12 as the middle section, of the door. The door sections are of substantially the same size and each consists of a relatively thin panel 29, preferably made of particle board because of the low-warp tendency of that material, with a lightweight peripheral frame made up of sections of extruded aluminum.

The peripheral frame of each of the door sections consists of a top rail 34, a bottom rail 30 and two stiles fitted together at their corners in a way subsequently to be described. The top and bottom rails of the door sections are of respectively similar configurations. The stiles, however, of the door sections differ in that each of the end sections has a lock stile 36 along that edge which contacts the doorway frame and an innerlock st le along ts other edge, whereas the middle door section has an innerlock stile at each of its lateral edges.

The lock stiles 36 for the two end sections of the door are cut from the same extruded aluminum stock, but are fitted with door fastening hardware of somewhat different character. In this connection, the FIGURE 1 embodiment of the door has a key-actuated lock 11 on its left end section, as shown, and a pull-handle 13 on its right end section. In this particular embodiment of the door, there is cooperating latching means 1 on the righthand door jamb and inner side of the right end door section, and cooperating means 2 on the left-hand jamb and inner side of the left-hand door section to permit the door to be latched from the inside at the right side of the doorway opening, as viewed in FIGURE 1, and locked from the outside with a key on the left side of the opening. The above-mentioned hardware items are of conventional types and their manner of use and functioning is so well known as to require no detailed description here. Needless to say, other means of fastening or locking the door in place in the doorframe along its lateral edges can be employed within the scope of this invention.

As will be apparent from the drawings, and the present description, the separate sections of the movable door of this invention slide back and forth in closely parallel planes between their door-closed and door-open positions. While each of the end sections always contacts the same side jamb of the garage door opening, that section contacting either the right or left-hand door jamb can, as previously indicated, be offset either inwardly or outwardly (within the door opening) from the middle door section.

The bottom rail 30 of each of the door sections is, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 11, substantially hollow, comprising a pair of parallel side walls 30a depending downwardly from a horizontal partition 30a and a pair of inturned flanges 30b integral with the side walls and eX- tending upwardly from the level partition 30a. Flanges 30b terminate in a pair of downwardly depending strips 3012a parallelly disposed at a distance far enough apart to snugly receive the lower edge of a panel 29, and having longitudinally ridged, confronting faces, serrate in cross section, to provide gripping contact with said panel. The panel is wedged into the space between these strips to abutment of its lower edge with the upper surface of partition 30a in the bottom rail, all as illustrated in FIGURE 4.

The space between side walls 30a, and below horizontal partition 30a, within bottom rail 30 is sufiicient to receive a roller 32, and its mounting hardware, oriented as shown in FIGURE 4, in such fashion as to permit vertical adjustment of the roller therewithin. The roller and its mounting hardware are shown generally at 46 in FIGURE 5, the overall assembly being commercially available as an olf-the-shelf item. Roller assembly 46 is of the type presently employed on sliding panels of various types in present day usage, hence need not be described in detail here. Briefly, the assembly comprises a ball-bearing roller (roller 32) and a holding device comprising an outer yoke 50, of U-shaped configuration, a cross pin 51 anchored within the outer yoke and an inner yoke 53 pivotally mounted on the cross pin. The inner yoke 53 serves to support the roller 32 on an axle 48 having a length substantially equal to the perpendicular distance between the outer surfaces of the two arms of the U-shaped member 50, all as shown in FIGURE 5. The enclosed end, or web, joining the arms of U-shaped member 50 has a laterally projecting lug 50a which first extends perpendicularly away therefrom, and then bends to form an offset ear to one side of the yoke, all again, as shown in FIGURE 5. The ear has a screw hole z for a purpose presently to be revealed. a

Each of the bottom rails 30 has a roller 32 mounted within its hollow bottom portion'inboard of either end.

To make this possible, the internal partition 30a of each of the rails has a pair of curved confronting ribs 300 depending downwardly therefrom intermediate its edges to form a continuous screw receiving channel 30f in which a holding screw for the roller assembly 46 is anchored. To gain an understanding of how the roller assembly is inserted into a bottom rail 30, assume for the moment that one of the rail sectional views of FIG- URE 4 is an end, rather than a sectional, view of said rail. The roller assembly could then be inserted into the bottom hollow portion of the rail, in its assumed position, with the roller pointing inward toward the paper until the offset portion of its lug 50a is brought flush against the end of the rail. The screw hole 1 in the lug is now in line with the screw receiving channel 30 of the bottom rail. A holding screw, not shown, is then inserted through the hole z and turned to tightness in the screw receiving channel to snug the roller assembly into place in the hollow interior of the rail.

The bottom rail 30 has two pairs of ribs 30d and 30h, respectively, running longitudinally along the inner surfaces of its side walls 30e, as best shown in FIGURE 11. These ribs serve the purpose of defining the corner limits of the proper position of roller assembly 46 within the bottom rail and hence help to guide the assembly into place as it is being installed in the rail and thereafter keep it from slipping out of position. Once the roller assembly is tightened in place as described above, the vertical positioning of roller 32 can be adjusted by turning a bolt 45 in a nut 43 positioned in the assembly as shown in FIGURE 5. There is no need for further discussion of this vertical adjustment technique here in view of the fact, indicated above, that the instant roller assemblies and their manner of functioning are well known. It will be apparent, of course, that exactly the sam procedure is followed for installing the roller assembly in the bottom rail from either end.

The top rails 34 are somewhat similar to bottom rails 30 in cross-sectional configuration, being substantially hollow and having side walls 34b, an internal partition 34c and curving, inturned flanges 34d terminating in parallel strips with confronting, gripping surfaces of serrate cross-section defining a receptive slot for the edge of a panel 29. Needless to say, the opposite orientation of the top rails from the bottom ones in the installed garage door results in upward extension of side walls 34b of the top rails from the internal partitions of the latter, rather than downward extension therefrom as in the case of side walls 30:: of the bottom rails 30, as well as downward dependency of the inturned flanges 34d from said partitions rather than upward extension from the partitions, as in the case of their counterparts in the bottom rails.

It is less essential that panel 29 extend all the way to partition 34:: within the top rail than for it to extend downwardly to the corresponding partition within the bottom rail, although no criticality attaches to any particular degree of extension of the panel into either the top or the bottom rail, so long as the latter grips the panel sufflciently tight to preserve the integrity of the functioning door. Thus, while the panels 29 are shown more deeply penetrative of the top than the bottom rails in FIGURE 4, this is not intended as a critical arrangement of the involved parts.

Each of the top rails 34 has a pair of inturned confronting lips 34a projecting from the upper edges of its side walls 34b and beveled to slope downwardly and inwardly (toward the center of the rail) from their upper to their lower edges, all as shown in FIGURE 10. These lips serve as an anchoring base for one or more pairs of tight fitting plastic guides 40, each being a fairly short strip of a relatively slick plastic material contoured in cross section to fit snugly around one of lips 34a and the upper end of the wall 34 of the top rail and extend laterally outwardly from the rail a distance sufficient, with the aid of another such guide positioned on the opposite lip, to center it within a channel 160! in the head jamb of doorway frame and provide low friction guidance of the upper edge of the door within that channel.

All of this will be more clearly understandable by reference to FIGURE 4, which shows the top rails of sections 10, 12 and 14, with plastic guides 40 attached thereto in the above-described manner, centered within channels defined by head jarnb 16. While these channels have not heretofore been discussed in detail, their function and purpose will now, it is believed, be obvious.

The top rail 34 has a pair of inturned ribs 34c, corresponding to ribs 390 of bottom rail 30, upstanding from its internal partition 34c and running longitudinally along the central portion of that partition to form a continuous screw receiving channel for purposes hereinafter explained.

The lock stiles 36 of end door sections and 14 are of identical cross section, each having a pair of parallel side walls 36c joined along one edge by a wall 36d and along the other edge by a wall 36a. Wall 36a has a central groove 36:: enclosed at its bottom end having parallel side Walls with confronting surfaces of serrated cross section, as best shown in FIGURE 12. Each of the lock stiles is installed with its edge wall 36a adjacent the lateral edge of the panel 29 of the door section of which it forms a part, and its groove 36c is dimensioned to receive the edge of said panel in snugly gripping engagement, the panel preferably penetrating the groove to contact with its bottom, as shown in FIGURE 3.

Sidewalls 360 of the lock stiles taper inwardly in each instance, near their outer borders, as shown at 36m, to terminate where they join the edge wall 36d. Projecting perpendicularly outwardly from edge wall 36d, along its side borders, are two bumper strips 36b having continuous hollows of T-shaped cross section 36ba, respectively. The bumper strips are adapted to provide bumper contact with a side jamb of the doorframe, and each of the T- shaped hollows is designed to anchor a strip of shockabsorbing felt, or other suitable material, for sound and shock deadening, as well as weather-proofing, purposes. As will later appear, the door sections and doorframe members are dimensioned to so cooperate that one of the end door sections closely flanks the outermost of three outwardly projecting flanges 180 from one of the door jambs 18, later to be described in greater detail, and the lock stile of the other end door section closely flanks the center one of those flanges on the second door jamb, when the door is in in its closed position.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the above-described relationship of the lock stiles with appropriately situated door jamb flanges, and shows strips of shock-absorbing material 42 in place in the T-shaped grooves in the bumper strips adjacent said flanges. As will be apparent, the strips of shockabsorbing material are anchored to only one side of each of the lock stiles since there is nothing adjacent the other side of the stile for it to bear against to accomplish its shock-absorbing and weather-sealing effect. The convergence of the walls of the lock stiles at their outer edges serves to permit closer spacing of the flanges 18c and improves the appearance of the door but is not critical, and the lock stiles can be of the same thickness throughout their widths, if desired.

The innerlock stiles have main body portions of generally tubular shape and rectangular in cross-section. They each have two sidewalls, an outer wall 38d forming a major portion of the lateral boundary of the door section of which it forms a part and two flanges 38a integral with the side walls near their inwardly extending edges. Flanges 38a extend toward each other, in the same plane, for equal distances, then bend perpendicularly into the hollow interior of the stile to form a pair of parallel grip strips for the edge of a panel 29. These strips have confronting faces of friction-grip character, serrate in cross section, and are spaced to snugly receive the edge of said panel 29 in the manner depicted in FIGURE 3.

' Each of the innerlock stiles has an angle-shaped lip 38c integral with its main tubular portion and oriented so that a segment thereof is in the same plane as the major portion of the outer wall of the stile, and a second segment extends perpendicularly from the outer edge of the first segment in the direction of the panel of the door section of which the innerlock stile forms a part for a distance less than the width of the nearest sidewall of said stile. The outer wall 38d of, and lip 380 of each of the innerlock stiles cooperate to form an elongate hollow 38b, of T-shaped cross-section, running the full length of the stile along a line near that edge of the tubular main body portion nearest the stile of an adjacent door section when the door is in its closed position with the door section edges overlapping in the previously-indicated, and drawing-illustrated, manner. The purpose of T-shaped hollow 38b is to snugly receive an interfitting portion of weather-stripping material with a flexible flap of sufficient width to cover the space between the door sections when the door is closed, such a material being shown at 44 in FIGURES 2 and 3.

Each of the innerlock stiles has its angle-shaped lip 38c oriented to extend in the direction of the door section with which it cooperates to lock the middle part of the door in place when the latter is fastened at its outer edges in the hereinafter-described manner. The door sections on adjacent tracks are so spaced, and the angle-shaped lips 38c on their innerlock stiles so sized, as to bring the lips of adjacent stiles into coupling engagement, with a flange of each trapped in the channel formed by the other and a side wall of the main body portion of the innerlock stile of which it forms a part, to thereby prevent relative movement between said sections when the door is fastened as above indicated. This lip-coupling relationship is well illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 13.

As will now be apparent, the closure of door -D from an open position is easily accomplished by merely pulling one or both of its end sections, as necessary, until those sections are in contact with the respective side jambs of the doorframe. This results in engagement of the innerlock stiles of center door section 12 with those of end door sections 10 and 14 in the above-described manner. The center door panel will now be held captive against movement in either direction along its supporting track, to preserve the integrity of the closed door, if the lock stiles of the two end sections of the door are fastened in place at their respectively adjacent door jambs by conventional latching and locking, or other means.

The illustrated door sections can be easily made by fitting the necessary top rail, bottom rail and stile members around a panel of the proper size, and then fastening the members together with screws. More specifically, center section 12 can be assembled from its component parts by first inserting the top and bottom edges of a panel 29 into the receptive grooves therefor in a top and bottom rail, respectively, and then fitting the innerlock stiles to the side edges of the panel and fastening the stiles to the top and bottom rails by means of screws fitted into the screw-receiving channels formed respectively by curved confronting ribs 34a and 300 of those rails. The top and bottom rails of the door section are cut to a length somewhat shorter than the width of the panel 29, the reason for this being to leave some excess panel edge for insertion into the receptive openings therefor in the innerlock stiles. The top and bottom rails are preferably centered on the top and bottom edges of the panel at desired depth of panel penetration, depending upon the accuracy of panel sizing and other factors familiar to those skilled in the art. The two innerlock stiles, cut to lengths equal to the height of the door section, are fitted onto those edges of panel 29 extending beyond the ends of the top and bottom rails, and brought flush against the ends of the latter, which are flat to provide good contact between the rails and stiles. The stiles are, of course, fitted onto the door section panel with their angle-shaped lips 38c extending in the proper directions to insure proper funct-ioning of the door when it is installed for use in a garage doorway opening.

Small holes, such as shown at 4 on FIGURE 2, are provided in the outer walls 38d of the inner-lock stiles near their ends. The purpose of these holes is to admit screws for fastening of the innerlock stiles to the top and bottom rails. To this end, one such screw hole is aligned with channel 30f in the bottom rail and another with the channel formed by curved confronting ribs 34a in the top rail. Screws are inserted through the appropriate holes to reach, and turned to tightness into, these screw-receiving channels to bring the innerlock stiles tightly into place against the top and bottom rails and hold the door section frame together. While two screw holes are shown at each end of those innerlock stiles visible in FIGURE 2, only one hole at each end is necessary. The reason for the presence of two such holes is to permit the stiles to be installed with either end up, since one of the holes is positioned to align with the screw-receiving channel in the bottom rail in one orientation and the other with the screw-receiving channel in the top rail in the opposite orientation, the positions of the holes differing because the distance of the screw-receiving channel from the outer edge of the top rail differs from the corresponding distance of the bottom rail, as a comparison of FIGURES l and 11 clearly shows.

The innerlock stile preferably has a U-shaped cutout in either end of its outer wall 38d, as shown in FIGURE 2, so sized and positioned as to permit a screw-driver to reach the bolt 45 of each roller assembly 46 in the bottom rail for adjustment of the positions of the rollers 32 therein. Such U-shaped cutouts are present in both the tops and bottoms of the innerlock stiles shown in FIG- URE 2 for the same reason that four screw holes are present in each of those stiles, namely, to permit use of the latter with either end up.

The end door sections are assembled in much the same way as the center one, the only difference being that here the necessary holes for screws and cutout portions for accessibility to the roller assembly bolts must be provided in the lock stiles, as well as the innerlock siles, of those sections.

The sides and top of doorframe F inwhich the door sections are mounted is readily installed around the rough doorway opening of a garage by fitting the side jamb and top members of the frame against the rough opening studs and header with their nailing flanges flush against the respective sides of the latter to which they are to be attached, Each of these doorfra-me members has a small L-shaped border flange projecting rearwardly therefrom along the edge farthest removed from the nailing flange, as shown at 181; on the side jambs, and at 160 on the top member, of the doorframe. These L-shaped flanges help to form channels sized to snugly receive the tip edge of one leg of an L-shaped nailing clip such as shown at 24 on FIGURE 3 or 28 on FIGURE 4. A plurality of nailing clips of this type are employed with each of the side jambs and top of the doonframe. These clips fit snugly in the spaces between the rough doorway opening members to which the involved doorframe parts are attached and the aforesaid channels formed by the L- shaped border flanges of the latter with the backs of their legs other than those held by said border flanges flat against the sides of said rough doorway opening members.

When the doorframe members are positioned as described above, they are anchored in place by nails driven through appropriate openings in the nailing flanges of those members, and the nailing clips used in association therewith, into the rough doorway opening members, the nails used to anchor the side jambs being shown at 6 and those used to fasten the top doorframe member being shown at 7 in FIGURES 3 and 4, respectively. The rough doorway opening members to which the doorframe side jambs are trailed in this fashion are shown at 22 in FIG- 10 URE 3, and that to which the top of the doorframe is nailed, at 8 in FIGURE 4.

The side jamb members of the doorframe are just wide enough to receive to top doorfr-ame rnember snugly between the two outer of their flanges to provide neat overlap of the upper ends of those flanges over the ends of the two outer flanges 16a of the latter member. The side jamb members each have three of the flanges 180, as was made evident by the foregoing description of the manner in which certain of those flanges cooperate with the lock stiles of the door sections of this invention in the closed position of the door.

Downturned flanges 16a of the top member of doorframe F are spaced wide enough apart to provide guide channels sized to comfortably accommodate the top rails of the door Sections as those sections ride back and forth between their extremes of travel in the doorframe. These guide channels (channels 16d) are centered directly over the tracks 200 on doorsill member 20, respectively. As a result, each of the door sections is provided with a track and overhead channel adapted to receive it in operating position and thereafter hold it upright in the doorframe. While only three sets of tracks are required for the three sections of door D, a fourth track and overhead channel combination has been provided in doorframe F (and illustrated in FIGURE 4) for use in the accommodation of a screen door, or the like. Such a screen door does not, of course, form a critical part of my sectional door invention.

Sill 20 consists of a relatively flat bed with evenly spaced ridges, or tracks, 20c running along its upper surface. These tracks are properly sized and spaced to receive the rollers of the door sections and guide the latter as they are moved back and forth in the opening and closing of door D. The rollers are, of course, peripherally grooved to fit over the tracks, and to remain there, during the rolling movements of the door sections, the resulting roller-track interfit being well illustrated in FIGURE 4. Sill 20 has a plurality of parallel tread strips 20b running along its underside which grip the garage floor along the bottom of the garage doorway opening and provide a firm and stable base for support of the door sections carried by the tracks on the upper surface of the sill. Treads 20b depend from the lower surface of the track portion of the sill, between its front and rear edges. In the latter connection, the front edge of the sill is characterized by the presence of a downwardly depending skirt 20d, and the rear edge by a pair of downwardly depending flanges 20e and 207, each of L-shaped cross-section, defining an elongate hollow 20g.

Elongate hollow 20g is adapted to receive the base of a strip of resiliently compressible material and hold it under the inward edge of sill 20 to elevate that edge slightly above the front one (except when a car runs over it), whereby water collecting on the sill during wet weather runs forwardly, and away from the garage, rather than leaking into the garage. This is not a critical feature of the doorframe, however, and, in fact, a preferred way of accomplishing the same result (i.e., draining Water away from the bottom of the garage door) is to provide several drainage slots, such as shown at w in FIGURE 9, in those portions of the sill between tracks 20c and an aligned opening v in the front skirt 20d of said sill. Any number of these slots and openings can be provided, but I have found that two sets of holes such as illustrated in FIGURE 9, when spaced a reasonable distance apart and reasonable distances from the ends of the sill, afford adequate drainage for a garage door of average size. Sill 20 is secured in place, in the garage doorway opening, by suitable bolt means, or the like.

Fixedly secured to two of the innerlock stiles of door sections 12 and 14 are two thrust rollers 52 and corresponding holding brackets 54, the holding brackets being so sized and positioned as to bring the thrust rollers into gently rolling contact with the door panels of door sections respectively adjacent those to which the rollers are affixed. The rollers are preferably mounted at a height to contact said panels about half-way between their upper and lower edges, and are provided with plastic outer races '6, which roll in contact with said panels as the door sections are moved back and forth during operation of the door. The presence of such thrust rollers serves to insure proper separation of the door sections as they roll back and forth in close proximity on tracks Ztlc, particularly in the event one or more of the door panels becomes warped, or otherwise deformed, for one reason or another. The thrust rollers are not critically necessary to the sectional door of this invention and can, in fact, be dispensed with entirely if the door sections have center rails, in additional to top and bottom ones, to hold the door panels stiff against warping.

As will be apparent from FIGURE 4, doorframe F is vertically dimensioned to leave clearance over the door sections in the channels 16d of its top member. This permits easy insertion of the door sections in, and removal of those sections from, doorframe F so that they can be easily inserted in the doorframe at the job site, or removed from the frame, one or more at a time, for purposes of inspection or repair. The door section rollers can be provided with springs to keep them under downbearing tension and minimize the possibility of trackjumping by said rollers during operation of the door. This is not, however, a critical feature of my invention, since the door will operate effectively without such springloaded rollers.

It will be appreciated that the particular version of the sectional door of this invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings is merely exemplary of a preferred embodiment thereof, and that there are many variations of the door within the scope of the invention. Some of these variations have already been touched upon, and others will occur to those skilled in the art in the light of present teachings. Exemplary of such variations are doors with more than three sections, doors having sections with plywood, or the like, panels, etc. The door is not limited to use on garages, and can, of course, be employed for any purpose to which its unique design and manner of operation suit it.

In summary, my invention has been described in considerable detail in order to comply with legal requirements for a full public disclosure of a preferred embodiment thereof. However, such detailed description is not intended in any way to limit the broad features or principles of the invention or the scope of patent, monopoly sought to be granted.

I claim:

1. Sectional door means comprising at least three movable sections adapted to roll on parallel tracks spanning the bottom of a doorway opening, said sections being individually movable between a closed-door position in which they are extended to block the doorway opening and open-door positions in which they are rolled together to clear portions of said opening for passage;

said sections being properly sized and having appropriate interlocking means integral with certain of their lateral edges to fill the doorway opening with the edges of adjacent ones overlapping and each section intermediate the two end ones secured against rolling displacement when the sections are extended to their closed-door position with the end ones fastened in place at their outer edges.

2. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 1 in which each of said sections has a peripheral frame including a hollowed bottom rail and at least two peripherally grooved rollers adapted to roll on one of said tracks so rotatably mounted on separate axles within said bottom rail as to permit rolling movement of the sections along said tracks with each section on a separate one of the tracks.

3. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 2 in which the peripheral frame of each of said sections 12 comprises addition to said hollowed bottom rail, a top r'ailahd pair of stiles defining its lateral boundaries,

said stiles consisting of, in the case of the two mostwidely separated sections in the door means when it is in its closed-door position, a lock stile disposed at its outer edge, and an inner stile with'said interlocking means integral therewith disposed at its other edge and, in the case of each additional section of said door means, a pair of inner stiles with said interlocking means integral therewith, the interlocking means on each section being oriented to interlock with that on an adjacent section to insure that each section intermediate the two end ones of the door means in its closed-door position is secured against lateral movement when the latter are locked in place at their outer edges.

4. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 3 in which each of said sections comprises a relatively thin panel surrounded by said peripheral frame and characterized by the affixed presence, on at least one of said sections, of at least one thrust roller and means for supporting same in rotatable relationship so positioned as to station said roller in freely rolling contact with the panel of an adjacent door section about half-way between its top and bottom edge, to thereby insure maintenance of the door sections the proper distance apart, when moved relative to one another for door opening and closing purposes, to prevent jamming therebetween as a result of a warped door panel or the like.

5. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 3 in which the interlocking means integral with each inner stile is an angle-shaped lip running longitudinally along the stile and projecting laterally outwardly from an appropriate corner thereof, said lip then turning sharply to form a flange extending substantially parallel to said stile and partially enclose a channel defined by the lip and adjacent side of the stile, the lips being so oriented on the door sections as to bring adjacent pairs into interlocking proximity with corresponding flanges of each pair extending into the channels partially enclosed by opposite ones of said pair when the door means is in its doorclosed position.

6. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 3 in which said door panels are of particle-board construction and the top and bottom rails and stiles of the peripheral frames of said sections are of extruded aluminum construction.

7. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 5 having associated weather-stripping means comprising strips of flexible weatherproofing material positioned to substantially overlap the cracks between adjacent stiles of the sections of said door means when the latter is in its closed-door position.

8. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 5 having latch and handle hardware means so associated with its lock stiles as to permit fastening of the door means to a doorframe when in its closed-door position and sliding of its sections back and forth between open,

and closed positions of the door means when the latter is not so fastened.

9. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 1, comprising, in addition to siad sliding door sections, doorframe means which, when installed, is adapted to receive the door sections and maintain them in proper positional relationship throughout their door-opening and closing movements.

10. Sectional door means in accordance with claim 9 in which said doorframe means comprises four members of extruded aluminum construction shaped for fastening in place around a rough doorway opening to provide it with two side jambs, a head ja-mb, and a sill, those members serving as side jambs having flanges which project perpendicularly into the doorway opening in positions such that one on each jamb closely flanks a pot tion of one side of each of the lock stiles of the end door sections when the door means is in its closed-door position; the member serving as the head jamb of the doorway opening in its installed position having a plurality of downwardly depending flanges spaced and positioned to define guide channels for the top rails of said door sections, and the member serving as the sill having, in its installed position, upstanding ridges sized and positioned to serve as said parallel tracks for the door sections to roll on during operation of said door means.

11. Sectional door means in accordance With claim 10 in which the member serving as a sill in said doorframe means is characterized by the presence of water drainage openings which channel water away from the bottom of the door means, and out the front of the garage, when said door means is in its closed position during periods of rainy weather.

14 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1919 Besocke 49-420 X 9/ 1958 Burke 160-202 7/ 1959 Dumbolton 49-125 X 4/1960 Steel 49-425 X 8/1960 Moloney 49-425 X 10/1962 Migneault et al. 49-420 X 2/1964 Harris 49-125 2/1965 Alvarez 160-91 X 9/1965 Grifiin 160-91 X 4/1967 Nolan et a1 160-91 X US. Cl. X.R. 

